April 04, 2016

Félix Gresset, Musée Félix Gresset/Félix Gresset's Museum

In former times many small communities in the french countryside had a public lavoir, a usually roofed basin supplied with water generally of a natural origin, available for the inhabitants to rinse the laundry after washing ¹.

Since such facilities currently are no longer needed, they may take another use, such as the lavoir in Chantegrue, France, which currently houses a small scale outsider art museum with woodworks, created by Félix Gresset (1917-1993).

Life and works

Gresset was a small farmer who lived in Chantegrue. Later in life, to meet the ends, he became employed by the municipality as a roadmender, a job that also took him into the local forests.

One of his tasks in this capacity included cleaning the roads from fallen branches.

Engaged in this activity, he recognized in some of these branches an animal or a person, which fascinated him in such a way that he began to collect wooden items that appealed to him.

By processing them somewhat, he could bring out their specific character, such as the bonhomme (good guy) in next picture.

a "bonhomme" (good guy)

Over the years the collection grew and eventually the front of his farmhouse, where Gresset put the items on display, became a sizable menagerie.

Apart form the picture below that might depict a scene from Gresset's front garden, to my knowledge the internet has no pictures that show how this art environment looked like when situated in front of the farmhouse.

After Gresset died in 1993, the family decided to bequeath the collection to the community. It was installed as Musée Félix Gresset in the no longer used lavoir.
The exposition shows some 200 creations, arranged around the water basins, placed in vitrines or attached to the walls.